Mayor Jack Balch brought in $11,300 for his re-election campaign between July 1 and Sept. 19, more than three times the roughly $3,000 raised by his challenger, Councilmember Julie Testa, according to state campaign finance filings reviewed by the Pleasanton Weekly.
The reports, due Sept. 24, are the first of two pre-election disclosures the California Fair Political Practices Commission requires of candidates who raise or spend at least $2,000. The second, covering Sept. 20 through Oct. 17, is due Oct. 22.
Mayor
Balch has raised $25,326 since Jan. 1, the filings show. Most of his summer donors were retired residents giving between $35 and $400, along with several $1,000 gifts from Pleasanton residents. He also reported $499 apiece from two Lafayette fuel companies, a $300 donation from Councilmember Craig Eicher and, in a Sept. 30 filing, $1,000 from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee.
He spent about $19,263 over the period, including on advertising, signs and a political consulting firm.
Testa, who leaves the council this year after eight years because of the city's two-term limit, reported $2,936, mostly from residents. Her only organizational donor was Catalysts for Local Control, a Mill Valley group that pushes for local say over housing, which gave $125. She was the only mayoral candidate to sign the city's voluntary spending cap in August.
Council races
In District 1, business executive Vin Kruttiventi gave his own campaign $25,000 on Sept. 9, nearly all of the money he raised by Sept. 19. Former Councilmember Kathy Narum raised just over $10,000, half of it her own money, and later reported $1,000 from the real estate PAC.
